Daily Archives: July 19, 2018

GENE SIMMONS DISCUSSES EX-KISS MEMBERS APPEARING ON UPCOMING TOUR: ‘WE TALKED ABOUT IT’

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Loudwire

Last month, Gene Simmons revealed that a three-year long KISS tour is set to launch in January. Now, in a recent interview, he addressed whether any former members of the band would be taking part in the shows, saying that the subject has been discussed, though no plans have been set in stone.

“We talked about it. But we have not decided anything,” Simmons tells Imperiumi. “The problem is if you bring out a special guest, they come on without makeup. They do. We have not really gotten that far. You can not put on the makeup. You’ve been out of the band 20 years. It’s not going to happen. And it’s a difficult question because if we did bring anybody who was in the band, they could not put on the makeup.”

Simmons has been on the road as part of the celebration of his 50 years in rock and roll where he does meet and greets and delivers his 150 track box set The Vault to fans who have purchased the collection. At designated locations, buyers of the set receive a pre-pack and join a small group of other fans for “Songs and Stories” from The Vault and a Q&A with Simmons.

Original KISS members Ace Frehley and Peter Criss have taken part in recent Vault events; even long estranged guitarist Vinnie Vincent has joined the Demon in the intimate setting. Simmons has also co-written two songs for the next Frehley solo album.

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NJ rock music: Remembering when future KISS members played a ninth-grade dance in Linden

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My Central Jersey

LINDEN — The year was 1971. Students at the Linden school, which then housed grades 7 through 9 and was known as McManus Junior High School, were getting ready for their ninth-grade spring dance and needed a live band.

The instrumental music teacher at the time, Brooke Ostrander, offered up his band, which played original songs and some contemporary rock hits of the time from such bands as the Moody Blues, the Rolling Stones, and Jethro Tull. Ostrander, who had just started his career at McManus in January 1969, played keyboards and flute for the band, known as Wicked Lester.

While those names may sound unfamiliar, the names of two of Ostrander’s bandmates from that night may ring a bell: Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley — founding members of the legendary rock band KISS.

KISS made its debut in 1974 and went on to be one of the biggest rock bands of the ’70s, known for songs such as “Rock and Roll All Nite.” KISS sold out stadiums to fans drawn by its ground-shaking sound, glam-rock costumes, and, of course, one-of-a-kind makeup, which kept the members’ faces hidden from the public for years.

But in 1971, Simmons and Stanley were in a small New York-based band that was known first as Rainbow and then Wicked Lester, playing small gigs at an armory, a college campus and a youth convention.

And at least one in Linden, according to multiple sources, with a keyboard and flute player whose full-time job was as a band teacher at McManus.

News of the McManus show resurfaced this year when Mark Kohut, art teacher at School No. 8 and School No. 9, was reading “KISS: Behind the Mask – Official Authorized Biography” by David Leaf and Ken Sharp, which was published by Grand Central Publishing in 2008. The book talked about the band’s early days, including Ostrander’s contributions to Rainbow and Wicked Lester.

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